**** RCMP Media Release
UPDATE: RCMP/HRP Criminal Investigation Division charge man with sexual offences
The RCMP/HRP Criminal Investigation Division has charged a man with sexual offences after multiple incidents across the Halifax Regional Municipality.
On June 21, 2023, at approximately 6:30 p.m., Halifax District RCMP responded to a report of sexual assault that occurred at a grocery store on Hwy. 2 in Fall River. Investigators learned that a man had groped a female youth in the store before leaving the area in a red Hyundai Elantra.
On June 22, at approximately 11:35 a.m., a female youth was walking on Wilson Lake Dr. in Middle Sackville when a man in a red Hyundai Elantra began following her. The man eventually got out of his vehicle and started taking pictures of the youth while walking towards her. A witness intervened and drove the youth to a nearby gas station, where the youth was dropped off. When the witness returned to the gas station a short time later, she noted the man had found the youth and was taking pictures of her again. The man then drove away.
At approximately 3 p.m., a woman was at a park on Hwy. 1 in Mount Uniacke when she observed a man in the bushes taking pictures of her. The woman left the area in her vehicle and the man got into a red Hyundai Elantra and began following her. The woman tried to evade the man, but he followed her through Bedford and into Bayer’s Lake, before the woman managed to lose him.
At approximately 8 p.m., investigators located the red Hyundai Elantra, unoccupied, in a parking lot in Bedford. They found the man approximately 20 minutes later at a business in Bedford, and he was safely arrested. He was held in custody overnight.
Cole William George Fidgen, 25, no fixed address, has been charged with Sexual Assault, Sexual Interference, Criminal Harassment (2 counts), Failure to Comply with Conditions of an Undertaking (4 counts), Breach of Recognizance (3 counts). Fidgen will appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court later today.
The investigations are ongoing.
